Aboriginal Portalhttp://aboriginal.ubc.ca
The University of British Columbia - VancouverThu, 23 May 2019 23:17:12 +0000en-US
hourly
1 https://wordpress.org/?v=5.2.1Indigenous Graduation Celebration 2019http://aboriginal.ubc.ca/2019/05/14/indigenous-graduation-celebration-2019/
Tue, 14 May 2019 22:08:22 +0000http://aboriginal-2.sites.olt.ubc.ca/?p=16149Return here on Saturday, May 25th at 11 AM to view a live webcast of the First Nation House of Learning’s annual Indigenous graduation celebration, where participating Indigenous students will be recognized and honoured by families, friends and supporters for their academic achievements.

April 1, 2019 – Today is the second anniversary of the installation of the Reconciliation Pole, carved by 7idansuu (Edenshaw), James Hart, Haida Hereditary Chief and Master Carver. On this day two years ago, as many may recall, the event began with dark clouds overhead but then ended under a clear blue sky as the pole was raised by hundreds of people with thousands more cheering on.

Others too will remember the words spoken that day, in particular those who spoke about the painful experiences associated with Indian residential schools but also of hope for a better future for today’s Indigenous youth, now free from the most oppressive elements of colonization and able to access the education required to move themselves and their communities forward.

Words were also spoken in remembrance of those thousands of children who died in the schools. And things were said about the need for Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples to walk the path of reconciliation together, which the pole idealizes in addition to telling the story of the time before, during and after the Indian residential school system impacted the first inhabitants of this country.

The day’s event moved President Ono to state that “the pole reflects UBC’s commitment to provide continued education and awareness about the Indian residential school system and the steps we must take to move forward together.”

Since that day two years ago, the Reconciliation Pole has come to be viewed by many as a cherished member of the campus and its collection of world-class artworks.

But disturbingly, against this backdrop of optimism, this past Friday, on March 29th, a campus employee contacted Campus Security to notify them of vandalism to the Reconciliation Pole. Two of about a dozen 3-foot stakes that were ringing the base of the pole on a temporary basis had been removed from the ground and inserted into the back of the pole – one in an existing crack and another in the mouth of a carved figure. Campus Security immediately removed the stakes from the pole. Thankfully there is no visible physical damage to the pole and all of the stakes have since been removed.

Despite there being no physical damage to the pole, this troubling act of vandalism nevertheless represents an affront to everyone on and off campus who embrace the pole’s symbolic importance and artist value. More specifically, this condemnable act profoundly disrespects everything the pole represents, from the voices of the survivors of the schools, the memories of the children who died in them, the hopes of Indigenous peoples, to the honour of all Canadians who are striving to shake free from the darkness of the past to embrace a brighter future together. As well, it disrespects the tremendous vision of James Hart who created this beautiful monument.

7idansuu has been informed of the incident as have others on campus. He indicated he would like to use this incident as an opportunity to bring people together in understanding the pole’s meaning and all that it represents. He provided the following statement:

It has been two years since we raised the “Reconciliation Pole” at UBC with many Peoples helping. A Pole created out of RESPECT, empathy for our past, an understanding, a work of hope of working together in meaningful ways. Taking care of the Lands, taking care of the seas, taking care of the airs all in the effort of taking care of one’s self and theirs. The gift of LIFE, the chance we have with this gift. In all of this, respect, respect for other peoples, respect for freedom, freedom of speech, respect for Religions, respect for one’s self, respect for what one does, one’s actions. Respect for your family, your friends. Respect for all life and all things that share their space with us. We cannot lose our respect. Carry your ancestors in your heart… Endeavour to persevere.

He also indicated he supports a cleansing ceremony taking place with Musqueam representatives on whose territory the pole stands. A private ceremony was held on Saturday.

In closing, please take this moment to reflect on the Reconciliation Pole, both in terms of what it represents but also on what it means to you, and feel free to voice your appreciation for it in some manner.

Respectfully,Margaret Moss, Director, First Nations House of LearningSheryl Lightfoot, Senior Advisor to the President on Indigenous Affairs

Modified: April 2, 2019

]]>39931813854_f8ddb22c88_zMusqueam flag raised at UBChttp://aboriginal.ubc.ca/2019/02/25/musqueam-flag-raised-at-ubc/
Mon, 25 Feb 2019 23:15:23 +0000http://aboriginal-2.sites.olt.ubc.ca/?p=16065February 25, 2019 – The flag of the Musqueam Indian Band was permanently raised on the University of British Columbia’s Vancouver campus today, thus formally signifying the university’s recognition of the Musqueam in whose traditional, ancestral and unceded lands the university is located. It joins the provincial and UBC flags in the SUB North Plaza.

The morning ceremony, which was nicely graced with sunshine and a timely appearance of wind, was well-attended by over two hundred people from across campus, including members of the public and the Musqueam community. Speakers included Musqueam Chief Wayne Sparrow and UBC President and Vice-Chancellor, Professor Santa J. Ono. Remarks from Minister of Advanced Education, Skills and Training Melanie Mark, who couldn’t attend the event, were read out by Professor Sheryl Lightfoot, Senior Advisor to the President on Indigenous Affairs, who emceed the proceedings.

The flag was raised by UBC Musqueam students, Brett Sparrow and Grace Point.

“Today’s flag raising reflects our long-term commitment to the Musqueam Indian Band and our vision of solidarity moving forward,” said Professor Ono. “Musqueam people have inhabited the same territory for millennia. We are acknowledging this past history but we are also recognizing our present relationship with Musqueam and our responsibilities for future actions with Musqueam and other Indigenous communities in Canada and worldwide,” added Ono.

“The permanent installation of Musqueam’s flag is another important milestone in our relationship with UBC, who has been working hard to acknowledge that this is our traditional, ancestral and unceded territory,” said Musqueam Chief Wayne Sparrow. “The flag is a powerful visual reminder for students and visitors, and especially for our people, who I hope are reminded that this is their traditional homeland.”

The permanent Musqueam Indian Band flag adds to a growing Musqueam presence on campus. In April 2018, UBC unveiled new bilingual street signs that acknowledged the traditional territory of the Musqueam. The signs are now on nine major campus streets and supplement English names with names in hən̓q̓əmin̓əm̓, the traditional language of the Musqueam. A Musqueam welcome pole or qeqən, carved by Musqueam artist Brent Sparrow Jr., was dedicated in April 2016 to mark the hundred-year anniversary of UBC. It joined the House Post of qiyǝplenǝxʷ (Capilano), installed in 2012.

This is in addition to the Musqueam Language Program, a sequence of six UBC-accredited courses in hən̓q̓əmin̓əm̓ offered by the UBC First Nations & Endangered Languages Program and Musqueam community members, as well as the signing of a historic memorandum of affiliation (PDF) in 2006 that emphasized the importance of building a long-term relationship.

]]>MusqueamFlag_UBCMusqueamFlag01Helping to preserve a language 1,200 kilometres from homehttp://aboriginal.ubc.ca/2019/01/17/helping-to-preserve-a-language/
Thu, 17 Jan 2019 00:31:54 +0000http://aboriginal-2.sites.olt.ubc.ca/?p=16050January 17, 2019 – “My name is Gawagani. I come from the house of Gamlaxyeltxw.”

Gawagani, or Vincent Gogag, is 1,200 kilometres from home, and has just finished speaking the Gitksan language for a group of students on a Wednesday afternoon.

This is part of Gogag’s role as a language consultant with the University of British Columbia Gitksan Research Lab. As an English as a Second Language teacher, he never thought much about teaching the Gitksan language in schools or villages, he said. In residential schools, English was the only way to communicate with non-Gitksan speakers. “Today, it’s very much needed, because we are losing the language.”

There are reportedly 522 fluent Gitxsenimx speakers, an alternative spelling of the language, out of a population of 9,849, according to the First Peoples’ Cultural Council 2018 Report on the Status of B.C. First Nations Languages. This is up from 350 in 2014, but the report advises each publication should be considered a snapshot at a particular time, given different sets of communities reporting, population growth, and community-specific variability in data reporting.

Lab co-director and Language Sciences Initiative member Professor Henry Davis said this difference is likely a difference in reporting, not in actual number of speakers. While the number of Gitksan second language speakers has likely increased since the Lab’s formation in 2010, the number of remaining first language speakers – those who learned the language from their parents, such as Gogag – has declined, Davis said. “Gitksan language learning by children in their home environment is something that’s not happening anymore.”

Language is core to Gitksan life. It is used for feasts, a tradition that combines economics, language and culture; Canadian government documents are translated into Gitksan for elders; and oral histories, stories, and speeches are passed down from clan to clan, house to house, Gogag said.

Language retention is vital to the health of a community, Lab co-director and Language Sciences Initiative member Professor Lisa Matthewson said, with previous research showing language was a significant predictor in reducing Indigenous youth suicide, and diabetes, and that Indigenous language learning was linked to impacts including achieving leadership positions within the community, healing from residential school trauma, and improved cultural and spiritual health.

“Every language encapsulates a culture, a world view, a history.”

Language and culture are not just the decoration on the cake, Davis said, they are the cake. As well, the Indigenous languages in British Columbia have unusual linguistic properties. These understudied languages can provide information linguists would not be able to ascertain from only studying common languages.

British Columbia is an extinction hotspot for languages, Davis said, and the Lab is doing as much as it can for the remaining first language speakers while helping second language speakers learn as authentic a version of the language as possible.

Its aim is to study Gitksan scientifically, document it, and provide needed language resources to speakers and the community, Matthewson said. To date, this has included an online Gitksan dictionary; a collection of oral histories; ongoing recording, transcribing, and translating work; language labs every week, where Gogag and two other consultants work with students and researchers; and work into the creation of pedagogical materials.

Due to an aging population, time is running out to study and accurately document the language of Gitksan first language speakers, Davis said. As such, there is no single International Year of Indigenous Languages for the Lab – every year, month, week and day is focused on the language. “We won’t stop!”

As for the future, there is some optimism, Davis said, including a greater pride in Indigenous languages and greater awareness of their importance due to the diminishing effect of residential schools. For his part, Gogag would like to see more funding for videos depicting Gitksan stories and myths and legends. But, he said, the Lab is “a fantastic place and it doesn’t feel like work. It’s the only place I can really speak my language again, because I’m 1,200 kilometres from home.”

]]>gitksan_story_fourgitksan_story_five_croppedAMS apologizes to Indigenous peopleshttp://aboriginal.ubc.ca/2018/11/07/ams-apologizes-to-indigenous-peoples/
Wed, 07 Nov 2018 19:35:27 +0000http://aboriginal-2.sites.olt.ubc.ca/?p=16017November 6, 2018 – Last month, UBC Alma Mater Society President Marium Hamid delivered an apology to Indigenous peoples during a meeting with Indigenous students at the First Nations Longhouse.

AMS expressed on behalf of 56,000 current undergraduate and graduate students of the University of British Columbia its “profound regret” for not making “serious efforts to advance reconciliation or recognize Indigenous rights” over the course of its 100 plus year history, and that it was “deeply sorry” for not having made a “concerted effort to foster a campus that is inclusive of Indigenous students.”

The apology, also released online, goes on to say that as an “organization comprised primarily of non-Indigenous students, the AMS has been slow to challenge settler privilege, undo systems of colonization, and thoughtfully engage with Indigenous peoples, including Indigenous students and the Musqueam Indian Band, upon whose territory we operate.”

As part of the apology, AMS concedes it “should have long ago begun to meaningfully address relations with Indigenous peoples.” It further states “this statement of apology is intended to be an inflection point from which the AMS commits to genuine reconciliation, respect for Indigenous rights, and recognition of our position as guests on [Musqueam] land.

The apology reveals that the ongoing use of the Thunderbird image and name, which was formally permitted in 1948 by Chief William Scow of the Kwikwasut’inuxw Haxwa’mis First Nation, has not been revisited since. Thus, it admits that it had “assumed that the authorization was granted in perpetuity.” Instead, it says, “we should have consulted with the Kwikwasut’inuxw Haxwa’mis people about continued use of the thunderbird.” As a result, the student society says it will reach out to them to discuss its further use.

The apology also acknowledges that in light of Canada’s “system of genocide… Organizations like the AMS that do not take action in the face of such severe and systemic marginalization and oppression are complicit by omission.”

UBC student Rodney Little Mustache of the Piikani Nation led the call for the AMS apology. He said in a Ubyssey article that the AMS apology is a “good start.”

He added: “AMS and UBC are at a turning point in history. We are setting the stage so that these types of actions are worked on and never forgotten.

“I cannot find the words for the happiness I feel for the present students and the future students of the University of British Columbia.”

AMS has since embarked on forming an Indigenous advisory committee and according to President Hamid, as reported by the Ubyssey, will look to have “every single portfolio… support Indigenous initiatives.” The society will also establish a space for Indigenous students in the Nest, the university’s student union building, and create a dedicated staff position.

]]>UBC_AMS_smallAppointments: Director, First Nations House of Learning; Senior Advisor to the President on Indigenous Affairshttp://aboriginal.ubc.ca/2018/07/25/appointments-director-first-nations-house-of-learning-senior-advisor-to-the-president-on-indigenous-affairs/
Wed, 25 Jul 2018 22:04:07 +0000http://aboriginal-2.sites.olt.ubc.ca/?p=15962July 24, 2018 – The Provost is delighted to announce that Dr. Margaret Moss has been appointed to the role of Director of the First Nations House of Learning (FNHL), for a five-year term commencing November 1, 2018, and that Dr. Sheryl Lightfoot has been appointed to the role of Senior Advisor to the President on Indigenous Affairs, for a five-year term, commencing August 1, 2018.

The international search was originally focused on a single appointment, however on the recommendation of the President’s Advisory Committee, Professor Ono has decided to separate these two very important roles.

Dr. Margaret Moss

As Director of the FNHL, Dr. Moss will work closely with Faculties and support units at UBC Vancouver to advance the development and implementation of policies, academic programs, research and other initiatives that address the needs and aspirations of Indigenous learners. She will hold her faculty appointment within the School of Nursing at the Vancouver campus.

Dr. Moss is an enrolled member of the Mandan, Hidatsa, and Arikara Nation (Three Affiliated Tribes of North Dakota), and has equal lineage as Canadian Sioux via Saskatchewan. She is currently Assistant Dean of Diversity and Inclusion at the University at Buffalo, and a tenured Associate Professor in the School of Nursing. She is a 2018 Faculty Fellow for Inclusive Excellence at the university level, and co-chair of the Indigenous Inclusion Sub-Committee for Inclusive Excellence. She is the first and only American Indian to hold both nursing and juris doctorates.

As a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Health Policy Fellow, she staffed the US Senate Special Committee on Aging and was the lead staff member on the now enacted National Alzheimer’s Project Act. Dr. Moss recently published the first nursing textbook on American Indian health which won the American Journal of Nursing 2016 Book of the Year award in two categories. Dr. Moss earned her PhD in Nursing from the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston and her Juris Doctor degree from Hamline University School of Law in St Paul, Minnesota. She received her tenure in 2006 from the University of Minnesota.

Dr. Moss’ clinical experience included being Staff Nurse and then House Supervisor and Patient Education Specialist with the US Public Health Service (Indian Health). Her areas of research include American Indian health, aging, health policy and health disparities with a focus on social and structural determinants of health.

Dr. Moss was a 2014 Fulbright Visiting Research Chair in Aboriginal/Indigenous Life and Culture in the North American Context at McGill University, Montreal, where she analyzed Canadian Census and Health laws and the resulting deficits for indigenous health outcomes. As an Associate Professor at Yale University (2010–2015), she directed both the Masters and Doctoral programs on Leadership and Policy.

In the interim, between now and November, academic leadership in the FNHL will be provided by Dr. Eric Eich, Vice-Provost and AVP, Academic Affairs, while Debra Martel, Associate Director of the FNHL, will continue to provide operational oversight.

Dr. Sheryl Lightfoot

As the Senior Advisor to the President on Indigenous Affairs, Dr. Sheryl Lightfoot will provide vision, leadership and diplomacy in advancing the university’s overall strategic plan in relation to Indigenous affairs across both Vancouver and Okanagan campuses. Dr. Lightfoot is an Associate Professor in UBC’s Department of Political Science.

Dr. Lightfoot is Anishinaabe, and a member of the Lake Superior Band of Ojibwe, from the Keweenaw Bay Indian Community (Michigan area). She is an Associate Professor in the First Nations and Indigenous Studies Program (FNIS) and in the Department of Political Science.

Professor Lightfoot joined UBC in 2009 and holds a Canada Research Chair in Global Indigenous Rights and Politics. Her area of research focuses on the intersection of Indigenous studies and international relations, with special attention on Indigenous rights and their implementation. Dr. Lightfoot received her PhD in International Relations and Comparative Politics from the University of Minnesota in 2009. She has extensive community-based experience both in the United States and in Canada. She has lived both on reserve and in the urban Indigenous communities of Minneapolis and Vancouver, working in various capacities for tribes and for American Indian community-based organizations. Her scholarly work is heavily influenced by this background.

It was UBC’s 2009 Aboriginal Strategic Plan that drew her to UBC, and she has continued to help advance Indigenous initiatives at the university, including the development of the new Indigenous Strategic Plan and the university’s new strategic plan. She is currently completing a book manuscript titled The Politics of Indigenous Apologies, which explores the processes by which several states came to offer official and collective apologies to Indigenous peoples. She has also recently launched a major SSHRC-funded study, Complex Sovereignties, which examines innovative and creative Indigenous self-determination practices, in comparative perspective.

At UBC, Professor Lightfoot has taught undergraduate and graduate courses in international relations, Indigenous rights, human rights, international organizations, Indigenous studies, politics and research methodologies. She served as the acting Co-chair of the FNIS program, and acting Co-director of the Institute for Critical Indigenous Studies.

The appointments of Drs. Moss and Lightfoot come at an opportune time with UBC’s commitment to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, and the implementation of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. With a renewed focus on Indigenous issues and relationships provincially, nationally and globally, these two dedicated roles will help UBC forge ahead in these multi-faceted and multi-dimensional Indigenous strategic initiatives, at a key juncture in provincial, national and global politics.

The Provost would like to thank the President’s Advisory Committee, and everyone who participated in the search process for their time, energy, and guidance, and wishes to congratulate Drs. Moss and Lightfoot and welcome them to these roles.

]]>MMossSLightfootIndigenous high school students get inspired at UBChttp://aboriginal.ubc.ca/2018/06/28/indigenous-high-school-students-get-inspired-at-ubc/
Thu, 28 Jun 2018 19:07:53 +0000http://aboriginal-2.sites.olt.ubc.ca/?p=15892

Indigenous high school students from across Western Canada attended this year’s week long Verna J. Kirkness Science and Engineering Education Program at UBC.

June 28, 2018 – This past May, the Verna J. Kirkness Science and Engineering Education Program and UBC hosted 31 Indigenous high school students, where they immersed themselves into campus life, including enjoying quality time in science and engineering labs doing hands-on research.

In addition to being mentored by professors and graduate-level students, the grade 11 and 12 students lived in residence, met Indigenous role models, and learned about supports that are available to UBC students.

Mayenda Jones, a grade 11 student from Hazelton, in northwestern B.C., received a scholarship to attend this informative and inspiring program, along with 30 other students from across B.C., Alberta and Manitoba.

Mayenda’s research lab project was hosted by the Faculty of Forestry, where she was involved in analyzing the stomata of different cottonwood tree leaves and comparing trees that grow in northern and southern parts of the province. By the end of the project, she said learned that “trees in the north have more stomata per unit area of leaf, so they grow faster, but they don’t grow as tall due to having less daylight.”

Meyanda Jones poses by the Wolf and Wolf Pub Housepost at the UBC First Nations Longhouse.

She said she looks at trees differently now that she has learned more about them.

Faride Unda, a postdoctoral fellow with the Tree Molecular Biology Lab, was one of Mayenda’s mentors. She got involved with the program because she likes to encourage students to explore science, and is particularly interested in promoting women in STEM. “I had the pleasure of working with Mayenda. I think she really took it all in. She was very organized, always taking notes and paying attention. I just hope that Mayenda and the rest of the students feel inspired by the experience and I am very happy to be a little part of it,” she said.

A personal highlight of Mayenda’s experience at UBC was seeing the magnificent Wolf and Wolf Pup Housepost at the university’s First Nations Longhouse. It was carved by her uncle Chief Walter Harris, a Gitsxan carver from Kispiox, and his son Rodney. “My father told me about the carving a few years ago, so I was very excited when I got to see it in person,” she said.

Thomas Berger, former B.C. Supreme Court Justice and Commissioner of the Mackenzie Valley Pipeline Inquiry, and a sponsor of the program, attended a dinner held in honour of the students. “I found the evening to be a remarkable demonstration of how, with the kind of mentorship and backing that the Kirkness Program provides, Indigenous high school students can experience the excitement that may await them in a science career,” he said.

Mayenda’s post-secondary plans include a possible career in sports medicine, and after her week on the beautiful UBC Point Grey campus, she may well pursue her dream there.

The Verna J. Kirkness Science and Engineering Education Program encourages Indigenous high school students to pursue post-secondary study and to make a positive difference in their home community. This is the third year of the program’s partnership with UBC.

June 21, 2018 – When brothers Miles, Noah and Keegan Marchand are asked who inspired them to become doctors, it’s the image of their late grandfather, the Honourable Leonard Marchand, that first comes to mind.

“I knew from a young age that I wanted to be a doctor, in large part because of my granddad. He was born on a reservation and grew up at a time when many Indigenous people were prevented from completing high school,” says Miles, the eldest and a recent graduate of UBC’s medical school.

After becoming the first member of the Okanagan Nation to attend high school in Vernon, Miles’ grandfather completed an undergraduate and master degree. He went on to a career in politics and dedicated his life to advocating for Indigenous peoples – contributions that were recognized at the highest level, with induction to the Order of Canada and Order of British Columbia.

“My granddad always told us that education was the key to the future. He inspired us to pursue further education and a career that would be really meaningful,” says Miles, who will be entering the next stage of his journey, as an internal medicine resident at UBC this summer.

But Miles is not the only Marchand eager to continue his grandfather’s legacy.

Miles’ two younger brothers – Noah and Keegan – are now following in their older brother’s footsteps.

Miles, Noah and Keegan Marchand with their grandparents, Donna and Leonard Marchand.

“I’m pretty confident when I say I wouldn’t be in medicine if it wasn’t for Miles,” says Noah, a second-year UBC medical student, reflecting on an earlier trip to Nepal, where his brother was leading a sickle cell screening program for indigenous communities with fellow classmates.

“Getting to talk to medical students about how meaningful their experience was – how much impact they were having, even after one year of medical school at UBC – is really what confirmed for me that I wanted to become a physician,” says Noah.

For the youngest Marchand brother, Keegan, who will be entering UBC’s medical school this fall, hearing from Miles about his experience was also the deciding factor.

“The fact that Miles was making a difference in the lives of others right from year one is really what helped me to confirm I wanted to become a doctor too.”

The Faculty of Medicine’s Aboriginal Student Initiatives Coordinator, James Andrew, sees a broader significance to having all three brothers choose UBC as the place to begin their medical careers.

“With the Marchand brothers, we see an example of how our students are positive role models for other Indigenous people who may be thinking of a career in medicine. It’s really something to be proud of,” says Andrew.

Miles Marchand recently walked through the graduation door at the UBC First Nations Longhouse as a graduate of UBC’s medical school.

Since 2004, more than 80 Indigenous students have graduated from the medical program, with a growing number practising or completing residency in a range of communities in B.C.

“What I love about UBC is that you get experience practising medicine in urban and rural communities,” shares Miles. “What drew me here is the opportunity to give back to my community and province. I think as a physician you have the responsibility and the voice to be an advocate.”

While the Marchand brothers may only be at the start of their journey as doctors, they continue to take the lessons of their grandfather with them and already have a vision for a shared future.

“The long-term goal for the three of us is to open a clinic together,” says Miles. “Our hope would be to call it the Marchand Clinic and have it set in an Indigenous community in the Interior – like the one where our granddad grew up. Continuing the legacy of our grandfather through medicine: that’s the dream.”

]]>Marchand-brothers-309×300Brothers Keegan, Noah and Miles Marchand.Marchand-familyMiles, Noah and Keegan Marchand with their grandparents, Donna and Leonard Marchand.Miles-Marchand-360×270Miles Marchand recently walked through the graduation door at the UBC First Nations Longhouse as a graduate of UBC's medical school.Bell Family Legacy Supports First Nations House of Learninghttp://aboriginal.ubc.ca/2018/06/05/bell-family-legacy-supports-first-nations-house-of-learning/
Tue, 05 Jun 2018 21:39:09 +0000http://aboriginal-2.sites.olt.ubc.ca/?p=15777

Retired Canadian diplomat and successful business leaderJohn Bell is continuing his father’s legacy of advancing Aboriginal education through a planned gift to the First Nations House of Learning. Photo Credit: Martin Dee

June 5, 2018 – Retired Canadian diplomat and Corporate Director, John P. Bell, a graduate of UBC Commerce class of 1962, recently provided for a gift in his will to support the First Nations House of Learning at UBC, which is housed in the First Nations Longhouse. His father, businessman and philanthropist Jack Bell, was the lead donor for the Longhouse project which was completed nearly 30 years ago.

“The Longhouse has become a home base for students often from isolated communities and a catalyst for education around Indigenous issues,” says John. “My father’s gift was really quite timely and it has had an impact on many people. In 1989 then UBC president, David Strangway noted there was only one First Nations student registered at UBC. Today there are around 1600 and the number is growing. The Longhouse and the First Nations House of Learning are great catalysts in this process”.

The First Nations House of Learning coordinates UBC’s efforts to increase educational opportunities for Aboriginal people and to meaningfully address issues of importance to Indigenous communities, from language preservation to clean drinking water, through teaching, research and community engagement.

John hopes his planned gift will not only increase the number of Indigenous graduates, but will also support the First Nations House of Learning’s work to ensure that an understanding of Indigenous history— a full and accurate understanding of Canadian history—is part of the education of all UBC students, whatever their field of study.

John’s own passion for supporting Aboriginal communities began when he was 14 and 15 years old working during the summers at the fish cannery at Namu on the BC Central Coast close to Bella Bella, home of the Heiltsuk First Nation. When he became a Director at various resource firms, he maintained a strong interest in how the companies he worked with were engaging Indigenous communities in which they were operating. His interest in advancing Indigenous rights also shaped his 35-year career as a federal diplomat.

In addition to his planned gift, John is supporting the annual John P. Bell Lecture in Global Indigenous Rights at UBC. The inaugural speaker in 2016 was Dr. Wilton Littlechild, a commissioner with the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada.

]]>JohnBell_625x274

Retired Canadian diplomat and successful business leader John Bell is continuing his father’s legacy of advancing Aboriginal education through a planned gift to the First Nations House of Learning.
Photo Credit: Martin Dee

FNHL Graduation Celebration 2018http://aboriginal.ubc.ca/2018/05/28/fnhl-graduation-celebration-2018/
Mon, 28 May 2018 14:43:45 +0000http://aboriginal-2.sites.olt.ubc.ca/?p=15736May 28, 2018 – On Saturday, May 26th, the First Nations House of Learning held its annual graduation celebration for participating Indigenous graduates at the UBC First Nations Longhouse (see video below).

This year’s turnout was higher than most, with 58 of 211 eligible graduates celebrating, along with family, friends and supporters.

The keynote was provided by UBC president Santa Ono (0:24:45), with special remarks for students by Dr. Linc Kesler, director of the First Nations House of Learning (1:38:30), who also blanketed Dr. Eric Eich and Dr. Helen Burt for their respective contributions to Indigenous initiatives at UBC (1:52:30).